Local versus overall segregation measures

This paper proposes a framework in which to study the segregation of a target group in a multigroup context, according either to an evenness perception or to a representativeness view of segregation, and offers a bridge between local segregation and overall segregation. In doing so, this paper first presents an axiomatic set-up within which local segregation measures can be evaluated, and defines local segregation curves. Next, a class of additive segregation indexes, related to the generalized entropy family and consistent with the above curves, is characterized, and decompositions of these measures are proposed. Finally, this paper shows that the axiomatization proposed for measuring local segregation, together with the indexes derived from it, are consistent with the overall segregation measurement of the existing literature. Finally, an empirical illustration with Spanish data is shown